


One of those days

by Pebblesong7



Series: Bad things happen bingo [1]
Category: Chicago Fire
Genre: Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Bad Things Happen Bingo, Blood Loss, Blood and Injury, Car Accidents, Hospitals, Hurt Kelly Severide, Worried Matthew Casey
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-26
Updated: 2021-02-26
Packaged: 2021-03-17 16:28:31
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,226
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29720001
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pebblesong7/pseuds/Pebblesong7
Summary: Some of the worst injuries happen when you least expect them.
Series: Bad things happen bingo [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2184204
Comments: 2
Kudos: 16





	One of those days

Whenever you are called out five minutes after you arrive at the station, you know it's going to be one of those days. Kelly had barely even been able to take a sip of his coffee before the bell rang, and he thanked god that he had planned ahead and brought a travel cup. On one of his first shifts he thought he would be fine keeping it in the regular mug, and one, what he would call the worst of his career, burn later he decided to never try that again. Shay had spent a full 20 minutes laughing at his misery, it was one of his fondest memories of her. 

Kelly wasn’t a morning person, and he got a certain thrill knowing that everyone in the firetruck was as miserable as he was right now. Even Cruz was dull eyed and irritated. It was wonderful. 

They all knew that they had to save their energy for when they got to the scene. Dispatch had called in a two vehicle car crash, reports of significant injuries on both sides. Kelly felt the familiar spark of nervous energy prickle underneath his skin as they drew closer to the incident. The moment the truck pulled up to the scene, he was the first out the door. 

The scene was graphic to say the least, a small crowd had gathered around the vehicles filled with the anxious chattering of observers. It looked to be a bad T-bone, the car that had been hit was almost completely concave from the pressure of the contact. Kelly could see the shape of at least one unconscious figure, and he waited with nervous anticipation for Boden to start giving orders. To his relief, there was no telltale odor of spilled gasoline or noticeable sparks, and he couldn’t see any significant dangers. The crowd was loud but there were no early warning signs of aggression. 

Once Boden had assessed the scene, he sent them to work. Casey’s team made their way to the car that had taken the brunt of the damage, signalling to Kelly that the doors were still functional. Meanwhile, Kelly checked over the other car. The front had been crushed, and he could see that the doors were going to be a problem if they wanted to get to the driver. The overpowering scent of alcohol made his skin crawl, but it wasn’t his job judge.   
“Cruz, get the jaws, we need to get this door open so the medics can get to the driver. Capp, see what you can do about getting these cars apart.” He reached his hand through the shattered window, checking for a pulse. 

He had barely touched the man before he sprang to life, nostrils flaring and eyes sparking with terror and pain. “It’s alright sir we’re gonna get you out. Can you tell me your name?” The man didn’t respond, frantically trying to move. He wouldn’t be able to for a while, Kelly suspected, his legs were pinned to the seat by the steering wheel. The driver was fortunate to have avoided being impaled by any of the scrap metal that snagged on Kelly’s clothing like claws. “Can you tell me your name sir?” he repeated.   
“L-Louis.” Kelly nodded approvingly, he needed to calm this down before someone got hurt.   
“Okay Louis, can you tell me if you are hurt anywhere?”  
“Uh I dont- I don’t think s-so, I can't move though.” Kelly gestured to the front of the car.   
“You're being pinned down but we’re gonna get you out. Just hold on.” The man seemed to be a bit calmer, so after a quick warning he let Cruz get to work with the jaws. 

The door sprang open, and Kelly gestured for the others to stand back as he checked the extent of the pinning. The headboard was badly damaged, but it was mainly intact, and there didn’t seem to be any significant damage to the drivers legs. The scent of liquor was stronger here, and he could see the remnants of a shattered vodka bottle at the base of the pedals. Kelly supposed that that may have been the cause, if the bottle had gotten underneath the pedals and stopped the breaks working… 

He didn’t mention anything about that yet, he needed to keep the driver calm whilst they sorted this out. He might have avoided visible injury but Kelly doubted that he could get away completely unscathed. He gestured to Cruz.   
“I don’t want to break any of this by accident, there’s enough sharp things here already. Can you grab the whizzer saw, I think if we can get through here we’ll be able to get him out.” Cruz vanished from sight. 

Kelly was just about to get up when he heard a ghastly shriek come from Casey’s car. He looked over and could see a body being covered, and his heart dropped. It would have been too much to hope everyone would be alive. The driver began to wriggle again.   
“Is she dead? Is she dead?” Kelly couldn’t get the words for a moment.   
“Don't worry about that right now, we need to get you checked out by a hospital.” The man began to thrash, it took both Kelly and Capp to be able to hold him still. A forceful shove nearly knocked Kelly over, and he felt a sharp pressure in his right thigh, nearly knocking the breath out of him as his hip twinged with pain. Kelly didn’t have time to focus on it before Cruz arrived back with the saw. Thankfully, he had brought Brett with him, and she quickly injected a sedative. 

The man fought them for a few moments longer, before, much to Kelly’s relief, he relaxed into the chair. Kelly stepped back to allow Cruz to do his work, and took a moment to catch his breath. He pushed away a wave of lightheadedness, but when he tried to take a step he nearly fell. He grabbed the hood of the car to balance himself, and when he looked down his heart skipped a beat. Dark blood was soaking through his trousers, slicking the wet material and making it stick coldly to his leg. Now that he had seen it, it was like he flicked a switch and the pain kicked in. It was strong enough to make him gasp. With shaking fingers he probed the wound, feeling a tear going from the top of his hip down about 2 inches toward his thigh. His fingers came back bright red with blood. 

Brett had brought a med kit with her, and Kelly grabbed a spare cloth from the top, pressing it firmly into his now screaming leg.   
“Capp,” the man met his eye before his gaze trailed down and turned to horror, “I’m going to need some help to get over to the ambulance.” To his relief, he sounded far calmer than he felt, and he hoped that he wasn’t trembling as noticeably as he felt he was. Capp just stared in shock for a moment, before jerking back to life like he had been electrocuted, calling Brett and calling for another ambo into his radio. 

Another wave of lightheadedness washed over Kelly and he nearly collapsed then and there, only stopped by a sturdy pair of arms wrapping around his chest and lowering him to the floor gently. Kelly couldn’t bite back the keen that broke from his throat as the injury was twinged, blood dripping from the wound. He was sure that his hand was a shade lighter underneath all the blood. All the blood that was not stopping. Brett had the same panicked look that Capp had, grabbing more bandages from her kit and trying to stop the bleeding.   
“Hold this.” she ordered, pressing down hard over Kelly’s hand. Dark hands replaced hers, and Kelly realised that Boden was there. Almost deliriously, he found himself gasping out a laugh.   
“I didn’t see you get here.” His voice sounded slurred even to him, and his heart thumped painfully again. For a moment his lungs didn’t work properly, but a spasm of pain brought him back.   
“It’s alright Severide, the ambulance is on its way.” He sounded assured Kelly let himself relax slightly. 

The relaxation had barely lasted a heartbeat before Kelly saw the endless stream of red seeping through the pristine white bandages. A flicker of concern crossed Boden’s face. Kelly was starting to feel distant, almost like he was watching what was happening through a screen. He realised that he was panting, his mouth dry and throat starting to feel scratchy, and he thought he might have asked for water. A cold sweat had broken across his skin, adding to the deep coldness that was spreading across his body. 

His vision was like looking through fish scales when he saw unfamiliar figures arrive. He was dimly aware of panicked shouting in the background but couldn’t discern the words. Someone shook him roughly, and he blinked at Boden with confusion, he couldn’t remember why the older man was so panicked.   
“Stay awake Kelly, you need to stay awake.” Was that Casey? When did he get here? He searched for him but could only move his eyes, the flickering lights confusing him. His heart was racing, he could feel every heartbeat shaking his whole chest. For a moment his vision went black, and when it returned he could feel the ground moving underneath him. His fingers felt numb, and he couldn’t make any noise above a faint rasping. It was enough to get the attention of the person with him, he couldn’t order his thoughts enough to realise who it was, but he was glad they were there. He didn’t like being alone. 

“You're alright Buddy, we’re nearly there, just hold on.” Their voice sounded like it was stretched out like a canvas. His gaze wandered aimlessly, back behind that screen again. 

The agony had faded to a dull throb. Despite the soaked through bandages that Kelly could feel being pressed firmly into the wound, an ominous wetness was spreading up his back. It was disgustingly warm, getting worse when it cooled rapidly against his perspiration skin. In a contrast to how he felt for the last few minutes… or hours he couldn’t tell… anxiety began to flutter in his chest, choking at his shallow breaths. In his job, there were always risks, but this was suddenly so real and powerful, he wasn’t sure what to do. Surely he couldn’t die like this, because some drunk guy accidentally shoved him into metal of all things? The dryness in his throat begged to differ. His head was beginning to throb in time with his heartbeat which was starting to feel far too slow for his liking. 

With an astounding awareness that he hadn't thought was in him, he turned and made direct eye contact with Casey. Casey, in turn, looked equally astounded when Kelly was able to force out a weak voice.   
“Am I about to die?” Casey shook his head fiercely, tears brimming in his eyes.   
“No! You’re going to be fine Kelly, you hear me?” Kelly wished he had the energy to respond, but it was like the question had drained the last of him. All he could do was look into those beautiful blue eyes. His vision was fading again. If he was going to die he was glad he wasn’t alone. With a final tremor, he lapsed into unconsciousness, barely hearing Casey calling out his name. 

When he awoke, there was silence. The smell of antiseptic would have been strong enough to make him flinch if he didn’t feel so drained. The memories of what had happened came flooding back to him as he crawled back into consciousness, and he was slowly able to force his arm to move. His fingertips scraped against the rough sensation of bandages, before something grabbed his wrist.   
“Don't touch that.” Casey sounded calmer now at least, and Kelly turned his throbbing head to look at the man. Casey smiled. “Hey buddy, you had us worried for a minute there.” Kelly let out a crackling chuckle, breaking into a cough. Casey silently passed him a cup of water, helping him sit up enough to drink.   
“I'm sorry.” He was finally able to get out. Casey just smiled gently, gently patting his shoulder. 

After a few minutes, Kelly was starting to feel a bit more human. Dr Choi came in and explained what happened, essentially boiling down to a bad cut that went all the way down to the bone. It made Kelly feel slightly lightheaded so he decided to just be relieved he was alive. Apparently he had needed a blood transfusion and two hours of surgery to repair the damage, and would need to take physiotherapy once the injury had healed enough. The good news was that there wouldn’t be any permanent damage and he was expected to make a full recovery. Boden later told him that Louis had been arrested for being three times over the limit, but was fine physically. The other car had suffered far worse, a mother cruelly ripped from her family by death, and all because this man wanted to have a night out. 

Sometimes you wake up and you just know it will be one of those days.

**Author's Note:**

> Poor Kelly, sure would be a shame if things were going to keep getting worse for him.


End file.
